Why did my hermit crab die?

[jester805]

Hey guys. I have a 75 FOWLR tank setup. It's been up for about 6 months and running great. I haven't checked levels in a couple weeks, but my fish are doing good. I have a copperband butterfly, foxface, keyhole angel, 2 damsels, 2 clowns, some snails, cleaner shrimp, and red leg crabs. And my newest fish (about a week old) is a longhorn cowfish.
For tank maintenance I have an Emperor 400 & Emperor 180. Also have 2 powerheads & a SeaClone 100 protein skimmer. I have close to 40 pounds of live rock & 80 pounds of live sand.
I DID have a hermit crab ever since the tank was setup. Just today I noticed that he was dead. Any ideas why he might have died? What are their life expectancies?? Just looking to see what might have happened.
Thanks!

 

[bigarn]

Are you sure it didn't molt?

 

[monalisa]

Might have been a molt, my little emerald scared me earlier this week...turned out he molted and was out, about, happy, eating, and greener than I've ever seen him!!!
Lisa :happyfish

 

[jester805]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that he didn't molt. I've seen him do it once before and it kind of scared me. This time it looks different and he's not in the original shell. I put 3 new shells in a week ago, but he's not in any of those either.

 

[it's_fishy]

hey jester....not sure why you're hermit crab died but IME...you put 10 in a tank and 4 are gonna croak within a week so who knows? However, you did say that you'd had him awhile right? So maybe he did hit his life expectency. My biggest concern would be this.....hermits and snails and such are gonna be the first critters to die off if your tank has a problem, so check your water and keep a close eye on your other tank denizens for a bit.
Also, i am glad to see someone has a cowfish. IMO, they are by far the coolest looking fish around. I'd love to hear how things go with him as i'd like to get one myself sometime dow the road. But just an FYI in case you didn't know....cowfish release a deadly toxin when they are stressed and/or die, which will kill many of your other tank dwellers......it's possible the stress of his transition to the new environment caused him to release a small amount of toxin that affected your hermit......but that's just a theory.
Keep me posted on that cow!
Scott

 

[mudplayerx]

If 4 out of 10 hermit crabs croak then you aren't acclimating correctly or your water quality is poor IMO. I can see maybe 1 dying, but 4.....theres definately somethin wrong with the crabs or the tank
The hermit crab that died..... was it a big one? If so, you are probably better off. The big ones are destructive and hostile.

 

[it's_fishy]

mudplayer....maybe 4 is too high of a number...i just meant sometimes the little buggers croak w/o apparent cause

 

[jester805]

Originally Posted by mudplayerx
The hermit crab that died..... was it a big one? If so, you are probably better off. The big ones are destructive and hostile.
It wasn't huge or anything, but it was good sized. It was in a medium sized shell. I forgot to mention that I also added an anemone last week and changed my light bulb. I was using the white fluorescent that came with the tank. I changed it to a 20,000 K bulb from my LFS.

 

[mudplayerx]

Its my opinion that hermit crabs other than the small ones that are part of the cleaning crew are not reef safe. The larger hermit crabs will frequently eat snails, corals, and anemones. I'm sorry for your loss, but I think you are better off this way, especially since you added an anemone.

 

[fishtanknewbie]

My guess would be the Cowfish. They love hermits!

They eat them in the wild so the will eat them in your tank or stress them out enough to kill them! :yes: